In the pantheon of Transfer Nonsense, the poor old manager doesn’t usually get a look in unless he’s being mocked for bringing in some absolute donkey. You know… like Carlton Cole.
Much of the hysteria surrounding the appearance of the former West Ham man at Celtic Park has subsided but after this weekend’s draw against Hearts, Ronny Deila is under pressure to sign a prolific front man and save his job after a disappointing start to the season which has seen many Celtic fans, not noted for their hysteria, calling for his head.
Mikael Lustig – or Craig Gordon Clone #001 (Failure) as he is technically known – is itching for the club to sign him, quoted in the Daily Record as saying: “If we do sign Carlton then it’s not going to make us worse, we will be better.”
Better…
One former Celtic player who hasn’t been making anybody better (thank you, tenuous links) is Jackie McNamara who was ‘relieved of his management duties’ following Dundee United’s loss to St. Johnstone. According to the BBC, McNamara remains employed by Dundee United but is no longer their manager. Presumably he’s the agent of most of the squad and he can now focus on getting them moves to Celtic instead of having the distraction of losing every weekend.
All of this has led to increased speculation, much to the chagrin of Kilmarnock fans, that Mixu Paatelainen could be set to return to Tannadice in the dugout. Other candidates include Stuart McCall, Steven Pressley of the Brown Shoes, and – of course – Billy Davies. It’s an attractive list for United fans but surely the promise of a Billy Davies meltdown as they avoid relegation on the final day of the season will be too good to pass up?
Motherwell know all about the excitement and the passion (wink wink) of Billy Davies and will probably be hoping that his odds on becoming the next Well manager don’t shorten. The bookies seem to think that Tommy Wright is going to dance merrily away from relative success at McDiarmid Park to join The Steelmen but with ‘the next Motherwell manager’ already third favourite in the sack race, you’d have to be mad to take the job on.
One blueprint for success seems to be hiring former Brentford managers who didn’t quite work out under the ‘Moneyball’ regime there. If it works for Rangers, surely it would work for Motherwell? Don’t answer that. Luckily Marinus Dijkhuizen has just been jettisoned by Brentford after a poor start to the season.
You might not think that’s a good thing, but it’s better than Billy Davies, right?
He is the editor of this fine site and a regular on the Scottish Comedy FC Podcast despite refusing to go anywhere near Owen's house.
He supports Kilmarnock and is a comedian to no-one but himself.
